Should Japan Continue to Use Nuclear Power?

1. Should Japan Continue to Use Nuclear Power? GROUP 7 Ms. Wei Ni Yeh Mr. GokhanDursun Ms. IsnawatiBasri

2. WHAT IS NUCLEAR POWER • use of exothermic nuclear processes,togenerate useful heat and electricity. • Nuclear power produces around 11% of the world's energy needs and 13% of the world's electricity in 2012, • produces huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel, without the pollution from burning fossil fuels. • International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report 2013 - 437 operational nuclear power reactors in 31 countriesand not every reactor is producing electricity.

3. 31 COUNTRIES USING NUCLEAR POWER • United States • France • Japan • Russia • South Korea • Canada • Ukraine • China • Germany • United Kingdom • Sweden • Spain • Belgium • Taiwan • India • Czech Republic • Switzerland • Finland • Bulgaria • Hungary • Brazil • South Africa • Slovakia • Mexico • Romania • Argentina • Iran • Pakistan • Slovenia • Netherlands • Armenia

4. ONGOING DEBATE ABOUT NUCLEAR POWER

5. JAPAN'S ENERGY NEEDS • shortage of minerals and energy was a powerful influence on its politics and history in the 20th century. • June 2010, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan increased energy self-sufficiency to 70% by 2030, for both energy security and CO2 emission reduction. It envisaged deepening strategic relationships with energy-producing countries. Nuclear power would play a big part in implementing the plan, and new reactors would be required as well as achieving 90% capacity factor across all plants. • However, Fukushima accident (2011) the government published a White Paper proposing that “Japan’s dependency on nuclear energy will be reduced as much as possible in the medium-range and long-range future.

6. JAPAN'S ENERGY POLICY 2002-2011 • Driven by considerations of energy security and the need to minimize dependence on current imports. The main elements regarding nuclear power were: • continue to have nuclear power as a major element of electricity production. • recycle uranium and plutonium from used fuel, initially in light water reactor (LWRs) and have reprocessing domestically. • steadily develop fast breeder reactors in order to improve uranium utilisation dramatically. • promote nuclear energy to the public, emphasising safety and non-proliferation.

7. JAPAN NUCLEAR POWER ACCIDENTS

8. FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR DISASTER (11 MARCH 2011) • the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plants has prompted leading energy-consuming countries to review the safety of their existing reactors and cast doubt on the speed and scale of planned expansions around the world • The Economist(2011) • nuclear power "looks dangerous, unpopular, expensive and risky", and that "it is replaceable with relative ease and could be forgone with no huge structural shifts in the way the world works"

9. FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR DISASTER (11 MARCH 2011) • the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plants has prompted leading energy-consuming countries to review the safety of their existing reactors and cast doubt on the speed and scale of planned expansions around the world • The Economist • nuclear power "looks dangerous, unpopular, expensive and risky", and that "it is replaceable with relative ease and could be forgone with no huge structural shifts in the way the world works" • German engineering giant Siemens • withdraw entirely from the nuclear industry, would no longer build nuclear power plants anywhere in the world

10. POST-FUKUSHIMA ENERGY POLICY CHANGES (2011) • Deutsche Bank analysts • "renewable energy will be a clear long-term winner in most energy systems, a conclusion supported by many voter surveys conducted over the past few weeks. At the same time, we consider natural gas to be, at the very least, an important transition fuel, especially in those regions where it is considered secure“ • Japan Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan(2012) • Japanese might not be able to live in the capital zone including Tokyo and would have to evacuate. Its haunted by the specter of an even bigger nuclear crisis forcing tens of millions of people to flee Tokyo and threatening the nation's existence. If things had reached that level, not only would the public have had to face hardships but Japan's very existence would have been in peril.

11. 4TH BASIC ENERGY PLAN (FEB 2014) • METI proposed new 4th Basic Energy Plan to government, which adopted it in April 2014. • Nuclear as an important one of four base-load options: • Hydro and geothermal – are limited • Coal is cheap but its pollution works against emissions goals and represents a geopolitical risk • Natural gas/LNG was designated as intermediate between low-cost base-load and peaking oil, and capable of complementing the intermittency of renewables • Solar is seen as useful to supply power during peak demand; large-scale deployment of wind could produce significant power, but this would come from northern areas and would require balancing with as-yet undeveloped storage systems. • Nuclear power is presented as a quasi-domestic source that gives stable power at low operational cost and with low greenhouse gas profile. Nuclear power is an "important power source that supports the stability of the energy supply and demand structure”.

12. CONCLUSION • Why Japan Can't Quit Nuclear Power??? • Since the Fukushima meltdown, the country has tried to reduce its reliance on nuclear reactors. But with nearly a third of its energy needs powered by the atom, change is difficult. • The NAIIC report • Fukushima accident as “made in Japan,” because Japan’s nuclear industry failed to absorb the lessons learned from Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. In the words of NAIIC chairman Kiyoshi Kurokawa, “It was this mindset that led to the disaster.” Safety culture has also been implicated as a primary root cause of the Chernobyl accident. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station’s meltdowns were not due to the natural disaster, but rather to a series of decisions by Tepco not to be proactive with safety, dating back to when the reactors were being constructed.

13. THANK YOU